The Wonderful Town of Tashmore Lake
by Karabara2011
Summary: Cheyenne is a pregnant teenager who moved from New York to Tashmore Lake. What happens when she meets a certain suspected author? Will he tell her about Shooter?
1. Prologue

Prologue

When I first came to Tashmore Lake, I had mo idea what to expect. I mean a pregnant teenager who was forced to move from New York City to a town of less than a thousand people, where everyone knows everything about everyone else. Forced to move away from my friends, Adam, and the greatest city in the entire world! Yeah, you'd be upset, too.

I guess I'd better introduce myself, I'm Cheyenne. I'm fifteen years old and two months pregnant. I've lived in the wonderful town of Tashmore Lake for about two weeks. Thank God my parents decided to move _after_ school ended for the summer. I guess they didn't want me to make too big of a transition so quickly after moving here. We live in a cute little townhouse by the lake after which the town is named.

Even though we haven't lived here long, we keep hearing about a man by the name of Mort Rainey. He's a very successful author who has recently been suspected of killing his ex-wife and her lover. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but I get chills sent down my spine every time I think about it. I just hope that I don't have an unfortunate run-in with him anytime soon.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My parents had just left and I was extremely bored. They left me at home, alone, while they went in search of the nearest Wal-Mart to get some necessities. So I, naturally being curious, left a note saying that I was going on a walk and that I'd have my cell phone. I also said to call me when they got back.

I walked out the front door and put my cell phone down in my pocket. I stood in the screened in porch for a few minutes just enjoying the fresh, clean smell that was new and foreign to me. Being a city girl, the air was always filled with smog and it was, quite frankly, a very smelly city. The only time you ever got to smell fresh air was when you bought the car air freshener.

I stepped out of the screened in porch and started to walk toward the trail that was down by the woods. I walked down on the trail for about fifteen minutes, just enjoying myself and the amazingly beautiful scenery, when I came to a clearing. It was on the edge of a cliff that dropped down at an extreme angle into the lake. It was still fairly light outside, so I decided to take out my cell phone to check the time. It was going on 8:00, so the sun was just beginning to set.

I sat down on the edge of the cliff and put my left hand onto my stomach. I had finally realized what a problem this really was. I'll never forget the day that I found out.

_I was already two weeks late and I was freaking out. I had told Adam and he promised me that after school, we would go to the nearest drugstore and pick up a pregnancy test. True to his word, we went the minute school let out to __get a pregnancy test;__ we bought three just to be safe__. When I got home, they all came back positive. I was terrified. Adam and I were fifteen and I was going to have a baby. My parents, when we told them, said that they'd never been more disappointed in their lives. Adam didn't let go of my hand the entire time. After both of our parents were aware of the situation, they got together and decided that it would be for the best if we moved away after the end of the school year. The next three days consisted of me in my room crying my eyes out. Refusing to come out or eat._

I snapped out of my flashback when I noticed that another person was standing behind me. I turned around and saw a man standing over me with a strange look in his eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AN: please R&R!!!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I sat there for a minute just looking at this man. He was about five foot ten with blonde hair that was dark brown at the roots and glasses with thick brown frames. He was sun-kissed when it came to his skin-tone and he was extremely good-looking. I stood up, brushed the dirt and dust off of my backside, and tried to act as polite as I could at the given moment.

"Hi," I said as I stuck my hands in my pockets. His reply was a 'hello' and a look as though he was accusing me of something. I pulled my hand out of my pocket and held it out, "I'm Cheyenne."

He hesitated a moment but then took my hand in his. "Hello, Cheyenne. My name's Mort Rainey. It truly is a pleasure to meet you."

I shook his hand and pulled it away rather quickly when I realized who he was. "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Rainey."

"You must be the new family that moved into the cabin down the Pathway from me."

"Yup, that's us," I replied a little apprehensive and unconsciously put my left hand on my stomach.

"Well, where are you and your family originally from?" he asked with a curious look on his face.

"We're from New York City," I replied thinking to myself, 'are they sure that this is the man that killed four people?'

Mort looked down at the hand placed protectively on my stomach and looked at me with a look of shear confusion, so I dropped it back down to my side. "How old are you Cheyenne?" he asked me, which honestly was a question that set me aback.

"Uh…I just turned fifteen in March." I looked down at my shoes and shifted my weight from one foot to the other.

He studied my expression to the best of his abilities, "Cheyenne? Are you alright?"

Luckily before I could respond, my cell phone started ringing. I took it out of my pocket and saw that my dad was calling me. I flipped it open, "Hey Daddy."

"Hey, we just got back and saw your note. We also got you something so if you want it you better get back here as soon as you can."

"Well, what is it?" I asked, trying to get my dad to crack and tell me beforehand.

Unfortunately, he said, "The sooner you get here, the sooner you'll find out."

"Alright, alright I'll be home soon okay?" I said smiling.

"Okay, love ya honey."

"Love you too Daddy," and with that, I shut my phone and placed it back into my pocket.

"Well, unfortunately Mr. Rainey, I have to head back home now. Don't be such a stranger though. You should come and visit me sometime.

"Will do Miss Cheyenne. Oh and please, call me Mort."

"Alright. Good-bye, Mort."

"Good-bye, Cheyenne." I smiled and started up the path toward my house.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Hey guys! I'm home!" I found them in the kitchen putting away the newly bought groceries. I walked into the kitchen and started to help put the groceries away. In the bag with the bread and pasta, I came upon a DVD. My parents looked at each other and smiled. It was my favorite movie that I'd always wanted since I'd first seen it, Sleepy Hollow.

My favorite actor of all time was, and still is, Johnny Depp. He's an amazing actor and he's just adorable! When he played Mr. Ichabod Crane in the legendary tale of the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", in my opinion was pure genius. As I looked at the cover of the DVD at Johnny Depp, I noticed a slight similarity between him and Mort. At least there was one thing for certain, Johnny Depp never killed anyone.

We finished putting things away and my mom told me that she wanted to talk to me in private. We went back and sat on my bed. "What's on your mind momma?" I asked putting a playful stress on 'momma'.

She took my hand and put in between hers, "Look honey, I know that I've really been hard on you since we found out about your…baby, and I really want to apologize. I guess I was just so," she paused looking for the right word, "disappointed in you. I mean, honey, please try to see this from my side of this whole situation. You were a straight 'A' student—"

"And I still am Mom!" I said, cutting her off, "Look I know that you're disappointed! I know that you hate me right now, because I do too!"

My mom sat there automatically going silent. She, as was I, was very shocked at my blow-up towards her and me. She was finally able to redeem herself, "I don't hate you, honey. How could you say something like that? I could never hate you. Never, _ever_, say that again!" She pulled me into a tight hug.

I hugged back and rested my chin on the dip of her shoulder. Realizing the error of my ways, I started crying. "I'm so sorry Mom. I didn't mean to upset you like that."

She rubbed the back of my head soothingly, "Shh…it's alright."

I sniffled and wiped my eyes. "Mom, I'm not ready to have a baby! What am I gonna do? I'm going to end up screwing up my baby!"

My mom pulled away and looked me straight in the eyes, "Well, not if I have anything to do with it!"

Even though I didn't want to at the moment, I smiled and laughed a slight bit. She smiled back and hugged me again. "I love you, Momma"

I could've sworn that I heard her sniffle, "I love you too, baby."

I sighed and pulled away, wiping my eyes. My mom smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "Alright, you better get some rest, 'Mommy'," she said as she rubbed my stomach ever so slightly and started walking toward the door.

"Alright, 'Grandma'," I said smiling.

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to glare at me. "Alright, that's not funny."

"Night, Mom," I said yawning and adjusting my bed.

She stood in the doorway and smiled at me, "Good-night, sweetie." And with that, she shut the door and I drifted into a peaceful slumber.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. I rubbed my eyes, stretched, and got out of bed. I put on my favorite pair of slippers and walked out towards the kitchen. When I walked in, I saw my dad sitting at the kitchen table, staring intently at the Tashmore Lake Times. My mom, however, was up and about, going back and forth from the morning dishes and making sure that my dad's coffee was full enough. This was a normal thing to see in the mornings. My mom's first job was a waitress at the local diner back in New York so it became a force of habit to make sure that during the morning, his coffee cup was full enough.

I leaned against the doorframe into the kitchen and smiled. We would, no, _should_ be the perfect family. I looked down at my slight bump of a stomach and sighed, disgusted at myself. God, how could I have let this happen? I was pulled from my train of thought when my mom came over and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Morning, sweetie."

"Hey, Mom. It smells great in here," I said forcing a smile.

"Well, you better go in there and get a cinnamon roll before your dad eats them all. We don't want you getting unhealthy now do we?" she said gently patting my stomach.

"Alright, Momma," I said, genuinely smiling.

I walked over to the stove and grabbed a cinnamon roll off of the paper plate that they were all sitting on and went to sit down next to my dad. "Hey, Daddy," I said as I took a bite of cinnamon roll.

"Hey, Chicky," he said looking away from the paper to smile at me.

I smiled back at him and took another bite of my cinnamon roll. "So…what's on the agenda today?" I asked with a cheek-full of food.

He put the paper down, took his glasses off to rub his eyes, and sighed, "Well, your mom and I were gonna go into town to find a good gynecologist for you, then go to the mall and check it out. Why? Did you want to come?"

I looked at him with the look of disgust. He laughed, "I'll take that as a 'no'."

I swallowed my last bite and got up to get a drink of water, "That's a 'heck no'."

My mom came back into the kitchen wearing a cute fuchsia-colored sun dress. Well, Cheyenne, are you coming with us this afternoon?"

I sat my glass of water down onto the counter-top, "Nah, I think I'll just chill out here this afternoon. Maybe I'll get to sit down and watch my future husband doing what he does best."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad roll his eyes in disgust. But my mom just went on like I'd never said anything out of the ordinary. "Alright, if you insist. Let's go 'Grandpa'," she said playfully.

My dad rolled his eyes again, put his glasses back on, and got up. They both said their good-byes and then they were gone.

I went back into my room to put on some clothes. In my closet, I found a pair of beat up jeans and an old black shirt and some black flip-flops. I came back out and went into the living room to put in Sleepy Hollow. I laid down on the couch and watched that master do what he does best, act like a prepubescent teenage girl and make you laugh.

The movie was almost at its end, when Christopher Walken gets his head back, when there was a knock at the door. Deeply frustrated, I groaned, paused the movie, and went over to the door.

When I opened the door, I saw Mort Rainey standing there wearing a grey sweater and cargo pants. I thought to myself, 'how could her wear that in the middle of the summer?' "Well, hello Mr. Rainey," I said politely, "would you like to come in?"

"Sure, I'd love to," he said and walked through the door.

I shut the door behind him. I put my hand on my stomach and sighed, then walked into the living room. I sat on the couch and tried to relax, "I'm just finishing my movie Mr. Rainey, but you're more than welcome to join me," I said, leaning back into the couch.

"Thanks," he said and sat down next to me, relatively close, too. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I leaned into the couch arm and crossed my legs.

Ten minutes later, the movie was over and we were chatting away about…well, everything. I still had not said a word about my being pregnant. I was sitting Indian-style on the couch facing him. He was talking about his latest novel and I had realized that I'd read one of his books before! I'd read his critically acclaimed novella called "Secret Window"! Even though it _was_ only a novella, it was still beautifully written.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was going on 4:00. We'd been sitting there talking for almost three hours! I thought to myself that I needed to tell him about my pregnancy, before we became really good friends. I mean he had a right to know…right?


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I sat there biting my bottom lip, weighing my options. One, I could tell him and have it off of my chest, but he might look at me or think that I'm a slut OR I could _not _tell him and then have him asking questions about why I'm gaining weight so fast, then have him hate me because I _didn't _tell him. Unfortunately, those were my only options.

His soothing voice brought my out of my trance-like state. "Cheyenne? Hey, are you alright?" He looked at me with sincere concern.

"Yea I'm fine," I said forcing a smile. He looked at me with a confused look. "Really!" I said adding in a little chuckle.

"If you say so."

I thought about it and got up the courage to ask him about it. "Hey, Mort?"

"Yea?" he replied looking into my eyes, causing me to look down at my legs.

"What if I'd done something really bad? Like, life-ruining? How would you think of me?" I asked then bit down on my bottom lip.

"Well," he said pondering this thought for a moment, then looking at me, "that would depend solely on what you did, I guess. Why? What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yea, yea I'm fine. Calm down. It's just that…I'm pregnant."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I sat looking at Mort, waiting for a reaction. The look on his face was completely unreadable. He just sat there staring off into space. "Mort? Are you okay?" He didn't answer. "Mort? Mort!" I yelled and there was still no reaction. Finally, I touched his shoulder and got a reaction.

"Whoa, whoa, just wait a minute. I think I was hallucinating. Could you repeat that one more time please?"

I sighed, "I'm pregnant Mort. I'm gonna have a baby. I just thought that you had a right to know about this before we became close friends."

"I have to go," he said and stood up.

"Mort, wait. Please talk to me."

He turned around and he looked angry, "What is there to talk about?! You are fifteen and an expectant mother! I'm sorry but I don't think that I have the energy to deal with that in my life!" And with that, he walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

I sat down on the couch and put my face in my hands. "Great job, Cheyenne, the first person that you meet here and that's actually nice to you, and you go and screw it up by telling him that you're pregnant," I told myself. Without being able to stop myself, I burst into tears. Mort was a great person and I'd just completely and utterly screwed up our friendship beyond repair. Then, I heard a car door shut and I automatically stopped crying. I wiped my eyes and went into the bathroom. I was going to stay in there until my eyes were no longer red and puffy, and my nose no longer runny.

My parents came into the house calling my name.

"I'm in the bathroom! I'll be out in a minute!" I called. When I finally cam out, my mom was coming around the corner and scared me. "Oh my God! Mom! Don't do that!"

"I'm sorry?" she said confused. I put my hand on my chest to try and restart my heart. "Okay, you have a gyno appointment on Tuesday at 3:00. Alright?" she said looking closely at me.

"Yea, alright," I said, now calmed down. I'm gonna go call Adam. Just to tell him that we're all settled in and that I'm alright," I said walking toward my room.

"Alright, well send him our love," my mom said before I shut the door.

"You got it," I said through the door to her.

_Mort's POV_

Meanwhile, just a half a mile up the path, Mort Rainey was sitting on his couch thinking about his major screw-up that his just happened between him and Cheyenne. He must have looked like a total jerk to her. She was just trying to explain herself and he just kept shutting her down. _Great job Mort, you really screwed up this time. She was just trying to explain the situation to you. _He looked at the clock, quarter till five; he still had time to run to Cheyenne and apologize before she hated him forever. He went outside and ran for the trail.

_Cheyenne's POV_

Back at Cheyenne's, she dialed Adam's number into her cell phone. It rang twice then he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Adam, how are you?" I asked playing with a strand of hair.

"I'm doing pretty badly actually. Now that you're gone things are really boring around here! How are you and the…"

He hesitated so I finished for him, "The baby?"

"Yea, that."

I smiled at him stumbling over his words like he was, "We're doing okay, I guess."

"That's good, that's good." Before I could say anything else, my dad came and knocked on my door.

"Honey, there's someone here to see you."

I said my good-byes and opened the door. "Well, who is it?" I asked looking at my dad.

"I don't know. I think he said his name was…Mart?"

My jaw dropped. Why had he come back? "Mort's here?" I asked.

"Yea, that's it, Mort," he said.

"Alright, thanks Daddy," I said and walked out into the living room and saw him sitting on the couch, waiting for me.

_Mort's POV_

I looked up and saw Cheyenne looking at me and I could tell that he was angry. I stood up and went over to her. I put my hand on her shoulder, "Cheyenne, I'm so sorry. I was being a jerk. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her mom looking in on us. "Um…do you think we could go to that clearing where we met? You know, to talk?" She looked at me then nodded. She went and told her mother, then we walked out the front door.

_Cheyenne's POV_

I stared straight ahead and clenched my jaw. I knew that he was sorry, but that didn't mean that I was going to forgive him right then and there. I saw him looking at me a couple times, but I didn't say a word. Finally, he broke the awkward silence when we were half-way through the woods.

"Look, I know that you're mad at me, but I apologized! What else do you want me to do?"

I looked at him, "I'm sorry, it's just that, I'm probably not gonna see my baby's daddy before she's actually born and I'm just really stressed at this point. So, I'm sorry," I said stopping to lean against a tree. I had suddenly grown very weak. I put a hand onto my stomach and started breathing very heavily. My mouth was watering as I collapsed onto the ground.

Mort automatically came to my side and started to yell at me. "Cheyenne? Cheyenne are you alright? Cheyenne! Answer me!"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After about a minute and a half, I regained the feeling in my body and woke up. The first thing that I saw when I opened my eyes was Mort's deep chocolate brown eyes looking back into my own, with the look of fear behind his eyes.

"Cheyenne? Hey, are you alright?"

I sat in his arms thinking about what had just happened. In the past minute and a half, I had passed out; Mort must've caught me, sat down, and then rubbed my hair until I woke up, and apparently was afraid that I was hurt. Now, I was sitting in his arms, well-protected might I add, and feeling a sense of safety. "Yea, yea I'm fine, Mort. Thanks, you know, for not just leaving."

He looked at me with a look of shock mixed equally with anger, "Cheyenne! How could you say that?!"

I could tell that I must've upset him. I stammered a little before the right words came out, "Mort, I-I-I'm…" What was there to say? That I was 'sorry'? But what was I sorry for? I wasn't completely sure.

While I tried to think of the right thing to say, he said, "No, no, no don't worry about it. I mean, especially now that I know you're going to be having a baby," he looked at me and gently placed his hand on my stomach, then looked deeply into my eyes.

I actually had _feelings _for this girl. How could I have let this happen? She's only fifteen! The fact that I was falling for this girl more and more each minute, scared me to death. Although I'd never admit it directly to her face, I would do anything for her. When she collapsed…my heart stopped, but on a reflex action, I caught her and sat her on the ground cradling her in my arms until she woke up.

When she first told me that she was pregnant, I had no idea what to say, but now that I've seen the way that I reacted to her merely fainting, I realized that no matter what, I'd be there for her.

I never knew what it was like to deal with children. After Amy had her miscarriage, I refused to think what it would be like living with little children. Okay, so technically Cheyenne's baby isn't mine, but I was bound and determined to be there for this baby as a father figure…of sorts. "Cheyenne, I—," she stopped me.

"Mort, don't worry about it, I'm fine," she put her fingers to my lips and I struggled to keep from sighing underneath her gentle touch.

When I finally regained my composure, she tried to get up, and even though I knew she would protest, I picked her up. After her just fainting, and being pregnant simultaneously, she didn't need to be walking at the moment. Just like I predicted, she yelled and fought with me the whole way back up the trail to her house. When we got back to the house, I opened the door and put her back down.

My parents looked at me funny after Mort left. "Uh…honey? Who exactly was that?" my mom asked looking at me with a look of concern.

I sighed, "Don't worry Mom. He's a…a friend of mine. We hung out today while you and Daddy were out shopping. And as it turns out, he's a famous and very successful author."

"Yes, well, does he know about your…'package'?"

"My 'package'?! Yea, Mom he knows about it and it's not a package! It's a baby! _My _baby!" I went into my room and slammed the door.

Through the door, I heard my dad ask what my problem was. Only moments later, I heard my mom reply, "Don't worry, it's a pregnant woman thing. Her hormones are all out of whack and she's just a little emotional." At that point, I sat on the floor, put my back against the door, and cried.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After I felt that my tear supply had completely run out, I stood up and went over to my bed and noticed that I'd missed a call on my cell phone. I looked and saw that it was my friend Trish from back in New York. I listened to the voicemail that she'd left and it said to call her as soon as I got the message so I dialed her number.

"Hello?" she said picking up after three rings.

"Hey Trish! What's up?!"

"Oh my god! Cheyenne?! It's so good to hear your voice!" I smiled.

"It's good to hear yours too! I just got your message, is everything alright?"

"Yea, yea everything's fine. We just wanted to let you know that we're coming up to visit you tomorrow!"

"Who's 'we'?"

"Adam, Bianca, and I! Are you excited?!" she asked talking at a mile a minute.

"Do you honestly have to ask?! Of course I am!"

"Alright, well, I better get going so I can get my stuff done before I get to come and see you tomorrow! Love ya Cheyenne!"

"Love you too Chicka!" I shut my phone smiling.

I sat on my bed thinking about getting to see my best friends in the entire world and getting to see Adam before I actually give birth to his child. Oh god, what would happen if Mort showed up? What if he came by to check on me or something and saw Adam? How would he react to that? There's only two ways that, that complication could end; either really well…or really badly. I heard a knock on my door, "Who is it?"

"It's Mom. Can I come in?"

I quietly sighed, "Yea come on in."

She opened the door and smiled at me, "Hey sweetie, how you feelin'?"

"I'm fine Mom," I answered slightly annoyed, "and I thought that I should let you know that Adam, Bianca, and Trish are coming to visit me tomorrow."

She looked at me, "Are you up for that hon?"

I looked at her in disbelief, "Yea Mother, I'll be fine. Now is there anything else that you need me for? I really want to get some rest, if at all possible. I'm exhausted; it's been a long day for me."

"Nope, I don't need anything else, I was just checking up on ya. Okay well, I'll let you sleep now," she leaned down and kissed my forehead before she walked over to the door. "Night sweetie."

I immediately felt guilty for acting so rude toward my mom, "Night Mom." She winked and shut off the lights, then turned, walked out, and shut the door behind her. I got underneath the sheets on my bed and laid looking at the ceiling. I thought to myself, 'How far would Mort go to keep me safe?'

I sat looking at the ceiling from my position on the couch. Thinking about what had happened through the course of today. First, I had found out that Cheyenne was pregnant at the extremely young age of fifteen. Then, I had stormed out of her house outraged at the idea of her promiscuity. Just the idea of her being…active at such a young age was, infuriating; she was so much better than that. But, to my credit, seeing the error of my ways and ran as fast as I could back to her house to apologize. The on that walk when she collapsed in front of me, that was it. My realization about my caring for this girl was too much to ignore.

Here I am telling only _myself _how much I care about this girl. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, cursing aloud at myself. Within the next few days, I had to get up the courage to tell her exactly how much I truly cared. The only problem was, what did that make me? Technically, I'm not a pedophile but I guess it is strange, me hanging out with a fifteen year-old girl, who's pregnant nonetheless! I absolutely couldn't go out into public with her. If I did, most likely, people would draw the wrong conclusion and think that it was mine. I already had a reputation as being a killer; I didn't need people thinking of me as some kind of sick pervert. I laid back down and drifted to sleep, still trying to regain my much needed confidence.

When I awoke the next morning, there were two extra people in my bed. Two extra people who weren't there the night before. At first I thought that I was dreaming, until I saw Adam's kind and gentle face. "Adam?" I said groggily.

"Hey, baby. How are ya?"

"I'm good, I'm good," I stretched, yawned, and then sat up. "Um guys? What time is it?"

"Get up sleepyhead! It's…10:00! So in other words, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!" Trish said as she shook my shoulders.

"Alright! I promise to get up, when you promise to get off of me!" I said smiling.

After I got up and got dressed, we went into the living room and decided to hang out and catch up with each other. I got caught up on the local hot gossip, like who's dating who, the latest on the so-called reasons I just up and left at the end of the school year, and who had suddenly gotten hot. Adam and I sat and held hands while Trish and Bianca fought over who had the hottest body in our grade. Adam and I excused ourselves into the kitchen and made sure that my parents were gone. We saw a note saying that they were going into town and were going to leave us alone for the day. He put his hand on my stomach and leaned in to kiss me. Almost as soon as our little make-out session had started, it was interrupted by a knocking at the door. I groaned, pulled away, and then went to open the door. When I opened it, there stood Mort Rainey. "Oh, hey Mort! Please come in. I have some people that I want you to meet."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

At first, I regretted inviting him in. But I guess after I had already invited him in, I had to go through with it and the consequences that may come from that decision. He smiled and walked in, giving me a nod of acknowledgement. I smiled back and led him into the living room. "Adam, get your butt out here right now!" I yelled into the kitchen. Like and obedient dog, he came right to my side. "Trish, Adam, Bianca, this is Mort Rainey. And Mort, this is Adam, Trish, and Bianca," I said pointing to each person as I said their name.

Trish and Bianca looked at Mort and then to me in disbelief. "Are you _the _Mort Rainey?!" Trish asked as Bianca kept staring at him, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Mort smiled and turned slightly pink, "Yea, that's me. It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said.

I looked over at Adam and noticed him looking at Mort like it was deadly to even be near him. When Mort looked over at him and met his gaze, his expression quickly changed from happiness to anger.

When I noticed Adam looking at me like I was Satan in the flesh, I immediately asked him to join me in the kitchen to have a little man-to-man chat. When we got out of Cheyenne's sight, I pushed the punk backwards. "Look, whether you like it or not, I'm going to be in Cheyenne's, and her baby's, life. Now, we can either get along away from Cheyenne or not, but when we are in front of her, we will act civilized, got it?" He clenched his jaw and didn't answer so I pressed on, "Look Adam, you don't have to like me, but I'm still a friend of Cheyenne's and don't think that I'm just going to push you out of her life."

He looked at me, "You do know that I'm the baby's father, right?"

"Yea, I kind of figured that you were. But don't think that I would do anything like that to you; I _couldn't_ do that to you."

He thought for a moment then stuck out his hand, "Alright, deal." We shook hands, and then went back out into the living room with Cheyenne.

When they came back out of the kitchen, there were smiling and getting along. Needless to say, I was confused. But they were getting along, so I didn't question it. "Hey guys!" I said smiling at them from the couch.

"Hey," they said in unison.

"Well, Trish, Bianca, and I were talking and we decided that it might be a good idea to go see a movie this afternoon. What do you guys think?"

They looked at each other, shrugged, and then said, "Sure."

"Okay well give me a chance to some _decent _clothes on and then we'll head out." I walked into my room and shut the door. I found a pair of low-riser jeans and an old Aerosmith t-shirt. That looked good enough to be out in public. I came back out, "Alright y'all, let's go!" I said smiling.

Adam offered to drive, so we all rode in his car. We had decided on going to see The Game Plan with the Rock, even though Adam and I didn't plan on actually watching the movie. We pulled into the parking lot, bought the tickets, and went in to sit down. I ended up getting sat down right between Mort and Adam, which at one point would get extremely awkward. This was going to be _very _interesting.

The movie started and Adam grabbed my hand. I looked at him and smiled. When the lights were all the way down, Adam leaned over and gently kissed my cheek. I turned toward him and we started up our little make-out session once again. I felt Mort's eyes boring into the back of my head. I knew that I was going to hear about this later on. After a few minutes, I pulled away from him, but he kept pulling me in closer to him. When he didn't, I punched his arm as hard as I could, and then quickly walked out of the theater.

Mort followed quickly and grabbed my shoulders, "Hey, I saw the whole thing. Are you alright?"

After a minute or two of calming myself down with deep cleansing breaths, I asked him what I'd been waiting all day to ask him, "Mort, there's something that I want to ask you…"


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I looked at him and waited a minute before continuing. "What? What is it?" he asked looking straight into my eyes.

"I'm going to be breaking up with Adam after he takes me home and I know that legally, I have to let him see the baby after it's born, but would you…" I thought for a minute about whether I should go on or not, "would you be there for my baby? As a kind of father figure? Because I mean, I trust you Mort." He sighed and leaned against the wall behind us. "God, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to carry such a big burden like that. I'm just—" I turned to walk outside to sit on the bench outside of the building by the parking lot, when I felt a hand grab my arm just above my elbow and I turned to look at him.

"I never said 'no' Cheyenne. I was thinking that it's an honor that you trust me that much to be a father-figure for your child. Cheyenne," he said putting his hand gently on my shoulders, "it would be an honor. I'd love to."

I smiled at him and looked down at my watch. There was still forty-five minutes left in the movie. "Do you wanna go sit down on the bench outside?"

He looked outside and then back at me, "Sure."

We walked toward the door and Mort grabbed my hand. I looked over at him and smiled. We got outside and I sat down, and Mort only a second later. I sighed, "Mort, what was I thinking? I didn't love him. Now I'm stuck with _his _baby inside of me. Why would you want to subject yourself to that?" I asked looking at him.

"Cheyenne," he said taking a hold of my hands in his, "because I love you. I know that we haven't known each other very long and people will always be looking at us funny, but I can't stop feeling or hearing what my heart is telling me. That sad excuse of a man in there, he doesn't.

I looked down at my shoes, he _loved_ me? In the whole three years that Adam and I dated, he never once told me that he loved me. And the look of sincerity in his eyes gave me the confidence that he wasn't lying.

I sat a moment taking it all in. When I finished feeling so special, I looked at Mort. He slowly leaned in a little. I had suddenly gotten the urge to kiss him. Right then and there and I didn't care who was watching. When we were finally close enough to satisfy my growing urge, Adam, Trish, and Bianca came walking out of the theater. Mort and I quickly pulled away from each other and I stood up. "Alright, let's go home," I said turning to walk toward the car. Mort was right beside me the entire time, gently holding my hand. We got into the car and I sat in the backseat…right next to Mort.

The entire ride home was silent as the grave, except for the hum of the engine and the occasional clicking of the turn signal. After twenty minutes of the awkward silence that was hanging over all of our heads, we arrived back at my house. Adam quickly said that it was time for them to head back to New York City, and I coldly agreed with him. We all said our good-byes and I let Adam know that our relationship was over, and they drove away. Afterwards, I turned to Mort, "Hey, do you want to come in and officially meet my parents?"

He looked at me with his amazing chocolate brown eyes, "I'd love to," he said holding my hand as I opened the door.

"Momma! Daddy! Come here a second!" Moments later, they came into the room. "Okay guys, this is Mort Rainey. Mort, this is my mom, Julie and my dad, Chris."

He smiled, "It's nice to finally meet the two of you. Cheyenne is a very mature a caring person, you should be very proud." At least they seemed to like one another. One thing was certain…this was going to be an interesting pregnancy.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I still remember what happened at the movie theater five months ago as if it had happened just yesterday. I'm now seven months pregnant and a sophomore at the local high school. Unfortunately, it was starting to get cold outside; with each day getting closer and closer to winter. Mort was planning on coming later that afternoon, after I'd gotten home. Lately he'd been over every single day just to check on me. He obviously took his "job" very seriously. When I got home that afternoon, I put a hand on my lower back and the other on my stomach, and, well, waddled up the dirt driveway to my house. I finally reached the house and saw Mort walking down the path toward my house; my savior was coming for me. I went into the house to warm up and wait for him.

Ten minutes later, after getting settled onto the living room floor, there was a knock on the door. I struggled to get up, then walked over to the door and opened it. "Hey, Mort, how are ya?" I asked as he walked into the house.

"Pretty good. How are you and the baby?" he asked putting a hand on top of my hand which was on my stomach.

I smiled, "We're fine, just trying to get some Algebra finished. But the baby isn't helping much," I said smiling and patting my stomach.

He chuckled, "Well, maybe I could be of so assistance. What are you working on in Algebra?"

I sighed and made my way back onto the floor, "Let's see, transforming parabolas," I said rolling my eyes.

He sat down next to me and laughed a little, "Well geez, try not to act so excited."

"I'll try to contain my enthusiasm," I said sarcastically.

After an hour, all of my homework was done and Mort and I were watching "Ellen" together. During one of the commercials, the baby started kicking. "Mort! Give me your hand," he looked at me confused, "hurry!"

He put his hand in mine and I placed it on my stomach where the baby was kicking. Mort looked at me, eyes wide and mouth agape. (Much like the face Trish and Bianca made when they first met him.) "Is that the baby?" he asked, looking from my face, to my stomach, and back.

"Yea. That's the baby," I looked at the clock and had just remembered that I had a gynecologist appointment today. "Oh crap! Mort, you need to take me to the gyno today remember?"

He looked at his watch, "Shoot, you're right. Today we find out if it's a boy or a girl right?"

"Yea."

"Okay well stay here and I'll drive back over here in ten minutes okay?" I smiled and nodded. Then Mort was out the door.

He was right on time, just like he said. Fifteen minutes later, we were heading into town for my appointment. I was so excited. I was _finally _going to know if I was having a baby boy or girl! We pulled into the parking lot and we walked in, hand-in-hand. We sat in the waiting room for about five minutes after signing in. Mort smiled and held my hand while we waited for the doctor to come in.

The room was a pastey-white color with a couple of chairs along the wall next to the patient's table. Of course Mort sat in the chair closest to the table.

"What do you think it's going to be?" I asked, putting my hand on my stomach.

He looked off into space, thinking. "Well, if it's a girl, she's going to be a heck of a soccer player," he said smiling and continued on, "_but _if it's a boy, hopefully he won't take after his father."

We sat waiting patiently for my doctor to come in. Mort and I were discussing baby names when Dr. Peterson came in.

"Well, Cheyenne, how are we doing today?" he asked going to the sink to wash his hands.

"I'm…I mean _we're_ doing great," I said smiling and rubbing my stomach.

Dr. Peterson turned around and saw Mort. "Oh, hello Mr. Rainey." Mort nodded a 'hello'. Dr. Peterson clapped his hands together, "Alright, let's check on this baby shall we?" he asked as he pulled over the ultrasound. He turned it on and put a gel onto the hand piece. He placed the hand piece onto my stomach. I jumped slightly at the sudden chill of the gel. "Oh, sorry bout that," he said apologetically.

Mort smiled as I replied, "Oh, it's alright."

We sat and looked at the baby on the monitor. I, for one, couldn't stop smiling. "Did you want to know the sex of the baby, Cheyenne?" he asked.

I looked at Mort and we nodded at each other. "Yea, we do," I said nodding.

"Alright give me a minute and we'll see if the baby will cooperate so that we can tell from the monitor." He looked intently at the screen for a few minutes. He looked at us and smiled, "Well Cheyenne, you are having a…" he paused, purposely adding a dramatic effect, "…girl."

I automatically smiled and looked at Mort who was also smiling back at me. "Oh my god! A girl?!" I asked, bursting with excitement.

Dr. Peterson nodded and smiled. We thanked him, wiped off my stomach, and then headed out to Mort's Jeep.

The whole way home, we were discussing a name for her. Eventually, we came down to the names Zoey and Anastasia. As we decided on the two names, we pulled up to my house.

"Well, I guess this is my stop," I said smiling.

"Okay, well I'll call you tomorrow alright?" he said unlocking the door.

I got out, "Alright, talk to you then," I shut the door and waved a quick good-bye as he drove away.


	13. Chapter 12

**AN:** Hey guys, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated sooner, I guess that school has just gotten in the way of my writing but I promise that I'll be writing more and more often! Anywho, here's chapter 12! Enjoy! And remember to R&R!

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Chapter 12

Christmas was soon to be closing in, as was my due date. Mort was still coming over everyday to visit; and during Christmas break, we spent the majority of our time together. He would often bring his laptop so that I could help him through his writer's block. I also found out that Mort actually had a house of his own. I recently found this out when we were out walking on the path one afternoon.

After the "grand tour," we sat and chatted about the baby for the first time for the entire day. "So we _finally _agree?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Yup," he said nodding, "Anastasia Marie Rainey," he said smiling playfully.

"Oh-ho, so she's going to be taking _your _last name now, huh?" I asked looking at him in mock surprise.

"Uh…yup, I mean I didn't st-st-stutter now did I?" he said triumphantly.

"Well," I rolled up my sleeves, "then I guess a little game of hide-and-seek is in order, now isn't it?" I stood up and put all the weight on my left leg and crossed my arms over my chest.

We had recently found out that our favorite childhood game was hide-and-seek. The day that we had found out, we had a quick game in the woods. The first round that we played, I had been pronounced the seeker after the classic "rock, paper, scissors" game to prove the first seeker. I had found him in less than five minutes, which surprised us both. Even though it had been my favorite game as a little kid, I wasn't the greatest seeker. An amazing hider I _was_, but when it came to seeking, to put it quite bluntly, I sucked. During the second round, however, it took Mort at least fifteen minutes to find me when I was hiding behind the same tree that he was. Quite pathetic, I know but it made me laugh.

"Well I guess it does!" he shot back.

We did our quick "rock, paper, scissors" game and found that Mort was going to be the first seeker, thank God. We reluctantly agreed on counting to fifty for the seeker, and if they peeked it was an automatic ejection from the game.

"One…two…three…four…" he counted. I almost automatically went up the stairs, as quietly as I could, to hide in a closet in the loft that looked down into the living room. It was perfect, full of old clothes and junk. There was barely enough room for me, but I was able to make room.

"Forty-nine…fifty! Alright, here I come," he shouted from the living room.

"Alright," I called, expertly throwing my voice so that it sounded like it came from behind the bathroom door. Even if he had opened the closet door, I was completely hidden by and old, not to mention ugly, yellow-brown corduroy jacket.

Twenty minutes had gone by and I was starting to get really bored. "Oh, my God, Mort! Did you give up or something?" I opened the closet door and out of nowhere, Mort jumped out from beside the doorway.

"BOO!" I put my hand over my heart; it was racing like it never had before. I shoved him and made my way out from behind the mounds of junk in the closet. "God Mort don't do that!"

He tried to regain his composure. "Sorry, I mean I didn't mean to scare you _that _bad," he said smiling and chuckling a little.

I punched him as hard as I could on the arm, "Morton Rainey, I swear if this baby is still- born…"

He cut me off, "But you and I both know that, that isn't going to happen," he said, being a true smart aleck, as he rubbed him arm where I had punched him and smirked at me.

"Alright you know what…? Just…shut up," I said smiling and taking out my phone to check the time. It was going on 5:30. Since my family had come to know Mort very well and was now considered a family friend, he quite often had dinner with us. "Did you wanna join us tonight? I think my mom ordered pizza, you know, if you want to come."

"Hmm…" he replied, obviously contemplating, "pizza does sound really delicious right now, so…sure."

I smiled at him, "Alright, let's get walking," I said going down the stairs and into the living room to get my down-feather winter jacket.

"Are you serious? You want to walk back to your house? I mean there's a foot of snow outside. But I guess if you want to…" he said walking down the stairs, not far behind me.

"Yes, I'm sure. I love the snow! Now come on!" I said smiling and zipping up my jacket and grabbing my hat, then pulling it on.

"Alright, alright fine come on let's go," he said while he zipped up his coat and pulled on his black toboggan, "but remember now, you wanted to walk."

"Yea I know, I know," I shrugged off and opened the front door.

Mort and I walked out onto the front porch, which was screened in like ours, and Mort closed and locked the door behind us and we walked out into the snow. The entire walk to my house we were chatting away about the baby, our personal favorite subject lately. We discussed everything from what was going to happen six months from now, to what was going to happen six _years_from now.

When I felt that our discussion was getting too serious for me, I picked up and handful of snow, very discretely too, and molded it in my hands until it was in the shape of a ball. When it was an absolutely perfect snowball, I threw it at the side of Mort's head. It hit him just right so that the snow completely filled up the inside part of his glasses. His reaction was what I wanted to see the most, him _completely _angry. When I saw how angry he really was, I ran and hid behind a tree.

"Oh yea Cheyenne, that's _really _mature," he called, while he angrily was cleaning the snow out of his glasses. He whipped around when he was finally able to see and started searching for me. "Come on out Cheyenne," he called, "I promise, no, I _swear_ that I won't do anything to you."

"Do you swamis?" I said, calling out from behind my shield.

"Yes, yes, I swamis," he said, his voice sounding much, much closer.

"Mort? Mort where are you?" I asked, not getting up the courage to look around the trunk of the tree that I was currently hidden behind.

"Well why don't you just look for yourself?"

"Alright fine, I will!" I hesitantly looked out and saw that the place where Mort was standing only a few moments ago was now empty. He was gone! "Alright Mort, where'd you go?" When he didn't respond, I really started to get worried, even a little nervous. "Mort, come on. This really isn't funny! _Please _come out?" I had just barely finished my sentence when I felt a snowball hit me in the back of the head. I quickly turned around to see Mort running past me heading toward the house. "Mort! God you are _so _dead!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to see me walking toward him, my face full of mock fury. "And the prey gets his revenge on the predator, just the way the world should be," he said smiling from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes, "Ha ha ha, very funny. We better get to the house soon if you want to eat. My dad might end up eating the whole pizza if we don't hurry."

"Alright then, come on let's go," he said as we started up the path toward my house.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Over the next couple of weeks was when things really started to get crazy in my life. My teacher, god bless them, were completely understanding about my problem. All of them except for my math teacher, Mr. Jones. His philosophy is that, me being pregnant is no excuse for not having my homework done. With Mr. Jones, he doesn't believe in teenagers having a personal life. Because of this theory, we always have at least an hour's worth of homework, even on weekends. In my opinion, in the back of his mind he thinks of me as a prime example of what happens when you _do _have a personal life.

Besides my teachers, well, most of my teachers being sympathetic of my…condition, my parents were encouraging Mort to be over at the house at any chance he got with me being so close to my due date. It was like this for a couple of weeks, until my parents pulled me out of school to be home-schooled until Anastasia was at least nine weeks old. The hardest thing to believe at that time was that my due date was only three weeks away.

Any chance that Mort had, he was over at the house. He arrived at the house at around 8:00 in the morning and would leave after one of my parents got back to the house after work during the week and on the weekends he would come over to watch football with my dad on Sundays and to check on me. During the week, he would sometimes help me with the work that my on-line teachers would give me and when the schoolwork was through, he would stay to keep me company. We would watch movies or I'd help him further along with his story. The current one was highly anticipated, not only by me, but all of his faithful readers that helped him through a hard time for him. A time when book and rating sales were way down.

One day, after my schooling, Mort sat me down and told me that we needed to talk. He told me that he was going to tell me the truth about the rumors that were circling around the town about him and what he had supposedly done. He had told me that six months after he caught his wife cheating on him, he was gradually going, without realizing it, schizophrenic. He had developed a second personality named John Shooter. He also explained that this, "John Shooter," had gone on a tirade and killed four people, a dog, and burned down a house in the process. He told me that since I had told him about my little secret, that I had a right to know about his.

When he was finished telling me the gruesome and sad story, he told me that he would completely understand if I didn't want to ever associate myself with him again. All I could do after that moment, was try to figure out if Shooter could ever come back…with a vengeance. When I confronted Mort with this question, he said that Shooter was gone and wasn't _ever _coming back.

Two day's later; Mort came over again as usual. It was a Sunday and my parents were going to be having a discussion with him about what he would do, should I go into labor during the day while he was here with me. We were all secretly counting the days until my due date. It almost forty weeks along, I was due almost any day.

"I promise that I'll be here everyday from 8:00, until the two of you, or at least one of you guys gets home from work. If she should happen to go into labor before I get here, she has my cell phone number. I swear that I will have it on and charged up at all times."

My parents had asked me to be in the room at all times during the meeting. I was supposed to be there, since it _was_ about me, and to speak up if there was something that I didn't agree with. I ended up sitting on the couch right next to Mort, opposite my parents who were sitting on the flowered loveseat.

"So, who's going to take care of Anastasia during the day when you go back to school?" my mom said, looking at me.

Before I really had a chance to answer, a strong, but gentle, voice beside me said, "I'll take care of her. I'll watch Anastasia while Cheyenne's at school. I mean, I'll even do it for free," he said leaning forward and looking back and forth between my mom and dad.

"Mort, come on, you can't just do it for free! We have to pay you _something_," I said looking at him in disbelief.

"Cheyenne, I'm not going to accept any money that you try to give me. It's a friend doing another friend a favor," he said, his chocolate brown eyes looking directly into my pale blue ones as he tried to reason with me.

"Come on Mr. Rainey," my mom said calmly, "there isn't _anything _that we can do as payment for watching my grand-daughter?"

"Nope, and please call me Mort."

After an hour of trying to negotiate with him, my parents and I finally just gave up when he wouldn't crack. After Mort left that night, my dad sat me down to discuss my relationship with Mort. They were well aware of my friendship with Mort. However, they were unaware of my ginormous crush that I had on Mort. I was terrified that if I did tell them about this crush that I had, that they wouldn't let me see him anymore.

Before I went to bed that night, I could tell that something wasn't completely right with me. My body just felt…different. There were no words to describe this feeling other than, strange. I shrugged it off and got into bed. Maybe it was normal to feel like this, this late in my pregnancy. I looked over at the duffle bag next to my bedroom door and then moved my eyesight down to my large stomach. "I can't wait to finally meet you baby girl." With that, I fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, I looked over at the clock on my bedside table. I was around 7:45 in the morning. I got up and put on a pair of sweats and a hoodie, quickly, before Mort arrived. I was heading to the kitchen when I felt a sharp pain shoot through my body. It was very light and it didn't last long, but it scared me. "Oh, my, God…am I going into labor?" I kept saying it out loud over and over again to myself while I watched the clock, timing my pains. The next one didn't happen till twenty minutes later, after Mort had already arrived. I hadn't said anything because of my contractions being so far apart.

Around 3:00 that afternoon, Mort had found out that I was in labor whether I wanted him to or not. He found this out…when my water broke.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_Mort's POV_

I had no idea what I was doing. Should I call her parents? Should I take her to the hospital and _then _call her parents? I had absolutely no idea. One thing was for sure, she needed to get to the hospital, and soon. "Cheyenne, how far apart are your contractions?" I asked, extremely frazzled and my heart was racing.

"I'm…not exactly sure," she said putting a hand on her stomach. "There's a stopwatch out on the counter in the kitchen. Now Mort," she stopped momentarily with a pained look on her face, after a minute or so, she sighed, "Mort, I need you to go into the kitchen and get the stopwatch, then I need you to go into my room and get my suitcase and my cell phone, alright? Can you handle all that?" she asked, then gently put her hands on my face.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," I said just before I sighed. "Alright, I just, um…" I paused, thinking of what to say.

"I'm going to go take a quick shower and change my clothes. Just get my things then sit and just calm down okay? I promise, I won't be long," I nodded and she went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Within twenty minutes, I had her stuff out by the front door and was waiting for her to get out of her room. We had started timing her contractions and had the time at around fifteen minutes between contractions.

"Alright, come on, this baby's coming soon," Cheyenne told me as she waddled out of her room toward me._Cheyenne's POV_

The contractions were extremely painful. But of course I was never going to let Mort see that. "Come on, we gotta get to the hospital," I paused feeling a contraction, "and we need to get there fast!"

"Okay, give me your hand," Mort said, as I placed one hand in the small of my back, then placed the other in his soft, but firm hand. We walked out to his Jeep and he helped me into the passenger's seat.

We got out on the highway driving to the hospital. "Okay, I'm going to call my mom and you just focus on getting us to the hospital ASAP alright?" I said dialing my mom's cell phone number.

Mort's eyes were glued to the road as the line rang three times. Finally, my mom picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Momma," I paused feeling the beginning of another contraction.

"Honey? Honey, what's wrong" she asked frantically.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing. I just thought that you might want to know that I'm in labor. My water broke about twenty minutes ago and Mort's driving me to the hospital."

"What?! Honey what hospital is he taking you to?"

"Westside Memorial."

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can, but I'm in the city for work today. Dang, I hope I don't miss the birth of my grandbaby!"

"Oh, Momma!!! Is there any way that you could possibly leave early?!"

"I'm not sure, Honey! But I'm sure as hell gonna try!"

"Okay Mom, listen I gotta call Daddy and let him know, too okay? I'll catch up with you later. I hope you make it to see her!"

"Trust me honey, I do too! I'll let you call your dad and I'll see you later okay? Bye!"

"Bye Mom," I hung up.

"God, Mort, my mom might not make it to see Anastasia being born! What am I gonna do?! She was going to coaching me on what to do and how to deal with the pain! I better call my dad," I said flipping my phone open, and dialing his number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Daddy, um…where are you right now?"

"I'm still at work honey, why?"

"Well, um…I'm kinda in labor," I paused for another contraction.

"What?! Okay, I'll meet you guys at the hospital alright?! Westside Memorial right?"

"Yea."

"Alright, but Daddy, Momma might not make it!"

"Well, we'll deal with that when I get there okay?" he asked as we pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"Okay, see you soon."

"Bye!"

Mort parked the Jeep and walked me inside. We walked up to the desk in he lobby and the very pale, skinny redhead behind it said, "How can I help you?"

"She's in labor," Mort said resting a hand in the space between my shoulder blades.

After a weird stare from about three people behind the desk, the skinny redhead called out to one of the male nurses that happened to be walking by at that moment. "Hey Mark, get this girl a wheelchair, stat!"

They sat me down in it and wheeled me into an empty room. I changed and put on one of the hospital gowns. After getting settled into the bed, a nurse came in and hooked me up to an I.V. and a machine that monitors my contractions and the baby's heart rate. I was told to not stress and to lie down and to relax.

"How are ya feelin?" Mort asked when he came back from getting me some ice.

"Okay, I guess. Is my dad here yet?" I felt very tired and weak, and well…I just wanted my daddy!!

"Nope, sorry. Did you check your cell phone to see if he tried to call you recently?"

"No hang on let me check," I pulled out my phone and saw that I had missed one call. My dad had called about five minutes before. He was going to be walking into the hospital at any minute.

A half hour later, my dad was there and we were still waiting on Mom. The nurse came in and told me that it was almost time to push. "Daddy? Daddy, what am I gonna do?! I want Mom!"

"Honey, you don't really have a choice, we can't wait for her. You gotta get that baby out," he told me as I grabbed his hand and squeezed it in a useless effort to relieve the pain.

"Okay, alright," I took a deep breath and sighed, "okay, I think I'm ready." They took me down to the delivery room. My dad was wearing the ugly blue/green scrubs and was holding my hand. Mort was waiting, not necessarily patiently, out in the hallway.

"Daddy, um…do you think that Mort could come in with us? You know…for support?"

"Well, um…honey, do you really think that's appropriate considering the circumstances?"

"Dad," I growled, and squeezed his hand as hard as I could, "get Mort in here…right now! He is my friend and I want him in here with me!"

"Okay, okay! Please let my hand go, you're cutting off the circulation to my fingers," he begged trying to pry my fingers off of his hand.

"Go get him!" I yelled and sharply let go of him hand.

"Alright," he walked over to the door and opened it, "Mort, hey, Cheyenne wants you in here with her, but you're going to have to hustle, she's about to push."

After getting the same ugly scrubs on, Mort was on one side of my bed, holding my right hand and my dad was on the other side holding my left hand. Moments later, my doctor came in; it was time to push. I looked over at my dad, "Daddy, I'm scared."

He kissed my forehead, "Honey, you're one of the strongest people that I know, you'll do just fine."

"Ready, Cheyenne?" my doctor asked looking at me.

"Well…" I took a deep breath, "I guess so," I calmly said, getting a tighter grip on Mort and my dad's hands.

"Okay…and push!" the doctor told me.

I leaned in and pushed as hard as I could. I had never felt any pain that hurt as bad as giving birth. It feels like taking your bottom lip and pulling it over your face. After ten seconds of sheer agony, I got to relax for one second.

"Okay, Cheyenne push!" I squeezed my dad's hand, and Mort's, as hard as I could and leaned forward again and pushed. I felt like screaming and just asking for a C-section, but it was a little late for that.

"Come on, Cheyenne! You're doing great! Just a few more," Mort said, rubbing the back of my hand.

"Cheyenne, one more push okay? That's all you have to do, do you think you can handle that?" the doctor asked.

"Yea, I think so," I said breathlessly with tears in my eyes from the pain. I leaned forward one last time and pushed as hard as I could. After ten seconds, my body relaxed and the pain started to diminish.

"Great job Cheyenne," my dad said before he kissed my forehead.

"Cheyenne, Anastasia is beautiful," Mort said, "she looks just like you. I don't think I have the strength that you do. I would never have wanted to go through that."

"Thanks Mort," I replied leaning back onto the pillow behind me. The nurse got Anastasia cleaned up and wrapped her in a little pink blanket, then handed her to me before they took her to the maternity ward. I had to admit, she did look a lot like me, except for her piercing blue eyes that she got from Adam. Even though he was a sorry excuse for a man, his eyes definitely complimented her skin tone and the peach fuzz on the top of her head.

Mort pulled my dad aside for a moment while I was holding Anastasia. "Um…Chris? Do you mind if I talk to Cheyenne alone for a few minutes?"

"Sure that's fine, I need some coffee anyway," he said smiling. The nurse came and told me that she needed to take Anastasia down to the maternity ward. I reluctantly gave her to the nurse, but I knew that I needed to talk to Mort.

After my dad and the nurse left, Mort pulled a chair up beside my bed. "Cheyenne," he said sitting down, "I think that you should know that, I love you, and the more I get to know you, the more I seem to fall for you. And after seeing your strength really show today, I realized that you are a lot stronger than I expected. And seeing you with Anastasia was…breathtaking. So, I have one question for you…"


	16. VERY IMPORTANT!

HEY GUYS!!!! This is a very important note from me!!!! I am calling out for anyone who wants to assist me in finishing up this story!! I am currently at a dead end and I need advice and/or suggestions from you guys, the readers, as to what you would like to see happen between our favorite suspected author and our leading lady, Cheyenne!!! First of all, I would like to let all of you know that I currently have a poll up on my author's page asking a very important question as to the ending of this story. This will decide the fate of Cheyenne and Mort relationship-wise. If all of you, my faithful readers (which i realllllllly appreciate by the way! I love you all!!!), could PLEASEEEEE vote then I would, quite possibly get chapters out faster for all of you beautiful people. _And..._I also may possibly be starting another fanfiction for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Willy Wonka and my own character, the only problem is, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO NAME HER OR HOW TO DESCRIBE HER!!! I would love to write a co-op story with another author on here, but I'm not fully aware of the people that read this story! So, I would really like some feedback about anything that was mentioned in this extremely long author's note. (BTW sorry bout the length) If you would like to help me in any way...leave a review for the story stating how you would like to help and any suggestions that you may have!!!! Thank you all so much for reading my story and I hope to hear from you soon!!!!

LOVE YA GUYS!!!!

Karabara2011!!!


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Well, what is it? What do you want to ask me?" I asked, tilting my head ever so slightly while it was still on the pillow.

"Will…" he started. As soon as he had opened his mouth, my mother came bursting into the hospital room, looking flustered and bewildered at the same time.

"Oh, my god honey! It is _so _good to see you!" she exclaimed as she pushed Mort out of the way, not knowing it though, to come rushing up to the side of my bed. She leaned over the edge and hugged me, a little too tightly.

"I'm sorry," I mouthed over my mom's shoulder to Mort while she was still hugging me. When she didn't let go, I looked over at Mort and rolled my eyes, which, in turn, caused him to snort and stifle a laugh. He had to try to stifle it even more when I told my mom that she was choking me and that I needed air.

"Honey, I'm so sorry that I didn't make it here in time to see Anastasia being born! I was _supposed _to be here to help you and I wasn't! But I went down to the maternity ward and saw my grandbaby; honey, she's gorgeous," my mother cupped my face with her hands, "I'm so proud of you."

I smiled at her, "Thanks Mom, believe me, coming from you that truly means a lot to me."

My mom looked over at Mort, "Honey, did I interrupt something when I came in here? If I did, then I'm truly sorry. Look, I'm gonna go to the café with your dad alright? I'll come back in later to check on you," she said glancing back and forth between me and Mort suspiciously.

"Thanks Mom," I calmly said as she kissed my forehead ad walked toward the door, opening it slightly. Her reply was a just a wink, seconds before she shut the door. I turned back to Mort who was sitting right next to my bed once again. "I'm so sorry about that; now what were you wanting to ask me?"

"Nothing…just…never mind," he replied glancing frantically around the room and shifting uncomfortably in his chair, "just forget that I even said anything," he said, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Alright…whatever you say."

The next day, the doctors told me that I was finally ale to go home. After packing up my clothes and plastic bag of toiletries, we put Anastasia into a car-seat and got into the car. I sat in 

the backseat of the car next to Anastasia in my parents' car. She was peacefully sleeping and holding onto my finger. So far, Anastasia had been a very quiet baby. My dad was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of breast-feeding, but I figured that he'd eventually get used to it.

Mort had gone home the night before, by my own request, to make sure that he got a good night's sleep. He told us that he would be coming by the house later in the afternoon to check on Anastasia and me. I had also realized on that drive home, that I would have to call Adam, unfortunately, and let him and his family know about the birth of our daughter.

"Okay honey, we're home. You need to get Anastasia out of that car-seat. Go into the house and I'll get your stuff," my dad said as we pulled into the dirt driveway.

"Alright Dad," I said as I unbuckled all the restraints to the car-seat, and then finally was able to hold my baby girl in my arms.

As I walked through the garage into the house, I was mentally preparing myself for the phone call that I was eventually going to have to make. Anastasia was still tired, so my mom offered to watch her while I called Adam.

I nervously dialed Adam's home phone number. After two or three rings, Adam's dad finally picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hi there Mr. Perry. It's…um…it's Cheyenne. How have you been?"

"Well, hi there Cheyenne. I've been doing just perfect, but I did hear about what happened between you and Adam at the movies, by the way, how far along are you now with the baby?"

I scratched my forehead, "Actually, that's why I'm calling. Um…I had my baby yesterday and I thought that you, Mrs. Perry, and Adam had a right to know."

"Oh, Adam come in here, phone's for you," I heard him yell to someone in another room, "Listen, I'll let you talk to Adam, okay? It's really nice talking to you Cheyenne!"

"Same to you Mr. Perry," I replied as I heard footsteps and then a door open.

"Hello?" a groggy voice asked; a voice that was all too familiar to me; a chilling voice that sent shivers up my spine.

"Hey Adam, it's uh…it's Cheyenne," I said nervously.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, "Yea, well what do you want?" he asked in an extremely hostile voice.



Taken aback at first, I finally found my voice, and courage, "Well, I just thought that you might wanna know that I gave birth to your daughter yesterday you big jerk!" I said equally as hostile.

Even over the phone, I heard his face soften, "Oh, well, h-how is she doing? I mean is she doing alright?"

"We're _both_ just fine. I just wanted you to know that you're always more than welcome to come and visit her. I'm more than willing to put aside our differences for the betterment of our daughter. And I'm not going to try to keep you out of her life either."

"Well…can I, I mean _we _come to see her tomorrow? You know mean like me and my parents? They're dying to see her."

"Oh, and your not?" I said holding in a chuckle.

"Well of course I am Cheyenne! So it's alright that we come to see her?"

"That's just fine. I'll be sure that she looks great for her daddy and grandparents," I heard my parents calling for me to come and get Anastasia, "Look Adam, I gotta go. But I guess we're going to be able to talk more tomorrow."

"Alright, and listen, tell you boyfriend, that Rainey guy, to stay at his own house tomorrow, alright?"

"Alright, I will. And he isn't my boyfriend; he's just a friend," I said feeling my cheeks getting hot.

"Yea, yea, yea, kinda like how we were 'just friends' for a long time before we finally became a couple? Anyway, I'll see ya tomorrow. Bye Cheyenne."

"See ya later Adam." I hung up the phone, and headed out to the living room with my parents, completely unaware that Mort was now at the house. He was on the couch holding Anastasia in his arms with my dad sitting beside him fawning over her.

He looked away from her long enough to look at me and smile. "Hey look Anastasia, look it's Mommy," he said smiling at me through his thick-framed glasses.

I smiled back at him then turned toward my mother, "Momma, hey can I talk to you, um…privately?"

"Sure hon," she said quietly getting up from her chair to keep from waking up Anastasia.

We walked out to the kitchen and I leaned against the counter, covering my face with my hands, "Momma," I paused and sighed, "Adam and his parents are coming up tomorrow to see Anastasia," I looked at her after dropping my hands.



"Well honey, you knew it was going to happen eventually, so I guess that this could get pretty interesting," she teased, then cracked a smile.

I groaned, "Mom, Adam said that he didn't want Mort here tomorrow while he's here. How am I going to tell him something like that? That he isn't welcome here tomorrow. Mom, I can't _do _that to him."

"Well, if you want, I'll talk to him for you. That way there isn't any type of conflict between you two, because I know that you guys are really good friends and I would hate to see that ruined because of something stupid like this. So, I'll let him know, it probably won't be as difficult for me anyway."

I reached out and hugged my mother, "Thanks Mom, I really appreciate it. God! This is all getting so difficult!" I said, pulling my mother closer to me.

She rubbed the back of my head soothingly, trying to calm me down, "Don't worry about a thing…sooner or later, things will calm down around here…I hope."


	18. Chapter 16

HI EVERYONE!! Things have been quieting down around here and with me being on spring break, and the weather being absolutely terrible, I'm going to be working on this story like crazy because...well I'm feeling like my life is in danger if I don't keep this story updated lol but here ya go!! Here's the amazing Chapter 16!! Enjoy!!

Chapter 16

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my daughter crying. It was 3:15, needless to say, I wasn't happy. This motherhood thing was going to be hard and brutal, and now was that time that I had finally realized it. I went over to her crib and picked her up, soothingly patting her back, like my mother had, and still did, to me. I walked over to the rocking chair on the other side of the room. I fed her, changed her diaper, and rocked her until she was finally back to sleep.

Later that morning, I awoke and something had just felt wrong. I jumped out of bed and rushed over to Anastasia's crib. She was gone! Frantic, I searched every square inch of my room. Finally concluding that she wasn't in my room at all, I ran out into the living room. How could this happen? I had only been a mom for two days! How could I lose my baby already?! When I came into the living room, I saw my mom sitting on the couch holding and playing with Anastasia.

A sigh of relief came over me, "Oh, thank God!" I exclaimed, "Mom don't do that to me! I didn't know what to do; I had no idea where she was! Please don't do that to me again!" I almost yelled at my mother as I went over to pick up Anastasia.

My mother looked at me and chuckled to herself, "You know honey, this is the proudest moment of my life for you."

"Huh? What do you mean? How is this a proud moment for you?" I asked, with my mind racing and I was suddenly feeling the beginning of a headache.

She smiled even more, "Honey, for the first time in your entire life, you weren't only worried about yourself. That's why I'm so proud. Becoming a mother has really changed your perspective on life hasn't it? It's not just you that you have to worry about now; it's about the betterment of your daughter now as a number one priority. Oh, and Adam called the house about twenty minutes ago. They should be here relatively soon. You better go get yourself and Anastasia dressed and ready," she kissed my forehead and sent me on my way.

After getting a shower and getting dressed in a peasant top that camouflaged my flab from being pregnant and a loose pair of jeans, Anastasia got her first gentle bath and dressed in a cute soft-pink onesy that played nicely on her pink skin. She was wrapped in a fleece yellow blanket that she came home from the hospital in while I was feeding her on the couch. After a few minutes of sitting there feeding her, there was a knock on the door.



Not wanting to be completely mortified in front of anyone that decided to come and visit by breast-feeding in the living room, I walked back into my bedroom to finish feeding her. When I heard the front door open, I listened very intently to detect who was at the house.

"Hi Julie," a familiar voice said. It was Mort's voice, but wait…hadn't my mom talked to him the night before about today? I thought she told him that he shouldn't be here today because of Adam being here.

After I finished feeding Anastasia, I walked out to the living room to talk to my mother. Of course I said hello to Mort first, who decided to watch Anastasia while my mom and I talked in the kitchen. Mort was joined on the couch by my dad who was, as usual, watching the Tennessee Volunteers get their butts kicked by the Ohio State Buckeyes in basketball.

"Mom," I harshly whispered, "I thought you were going to talk Mort about today, with Adam coming, this is going to be awkward for me. And his parents probably don't even know that I'm friends with Mort, so what are they gonna think?"

"Honey, believe me, I was _going _to talk to him about it but I thought about you. I know that you're going to want him here for support today. Trust me, I know you, and you'll know what I'm talking about in a few years, when you know Anastasia better than she does. But I knew that you want him here anyway, and if I know Mort, he'll keep things light around here."

Before I had a chance to reply with a sarcastic/smart aleck comment or any type of response at all, I heard the doorbell ring and I knew that it had to be Adam. I straightened up my clothes and fixed my pants then headed to the door to let them inside. Holding my breath, I let opened the front door.

His mother, when she first saw me, gave me a kiss on my right cheek and a loose, barely there, hug. On the other hand, his dad gave me a famous "Perry bear hug". The hug was so tight that I had to remind him that I needed to breathe eventually and that he was crushing my lungs. Adam's parents went into the living room with Anastasia, Mort, and my parents and left Adam and I alone to talk. He gave me a quick peck of a kiss and gave me a hug. We stood there holding each other in a warm, comforting hug.

"Hi Cheyenne," he whispered in my ear during our hug, "how's our little girl? How's Anastasia? And well…how are you?" he asked, his voice full of questioning.

"We're both just fine. It's a shame though that you had to miss the birth of her. But it's alright; I had Mort there to help me along. Do you want to come meet her though?" I asked, "But before you answer, I think that you might want to know that Mort _is _here today. Sorry," I said with a convincing false sincerity.

When I had finished my sentence, he abruptly let go and pushed my away. He sighed, "Cheyenne, I really don't like this guy. He's way too shady. But…I'll give him the benefit of 

the doubt, he really seems to like you…it's almost, this is so hard to say, it's almost like a love between the two of you that I obviously couldn't give you. He loves our daughter too, and I don't think that he has it in him to hurt you or Anastasia for that matter."

"Adam, you have no idea what that means to me, not that I really _needed_ your approval for him, but that really means a lot that you approve of him. But, I really don't want any conflict today because my hormones are all haywire and if you make me mad, I _just might _end up killing you," I said sarcastically smiling, with my voice full of confidence.

"Alright, alright yeesh! We better get in there soon though or my parents will start asking when our second child will be born. Plus, I really wanna meet my daughter."

"Alright, come on, she's in here in the living room," I said as we walked toward the room where my secret crush, and best friend, was sitting with my angel of a daughter. The sight of Mort holding my daughter was absolutely breath-taking to me and it just seemed to fit. Like everything is where it belongs when Mort is holding and caring for her. When we got into the room, Mort was no longer holding Anastasia, unfortunately, now my mom was over cooing and playing with her while Adam's mother was holding her.

"Hi Mrs. Perry," I quietly said, "Do you mind if I steal Anastasia from you for a few minutes? That way Adam can get to know his daughter."

"Well…" she said looking from Anastasia to me, to Adam, and back to Anastasia, "yea sure honey," she said handing her to me and smiling.

"Thanks," I said walking over to the couch with my daughter in my arms. I sat down, relatively close, to Mort and Adam sat down right beside me. I gently handed her to Adam and leaned back to view this amazing sight. Then looked back at Mort and smiled.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of Adam's mom flirting with Mort, which completely infuriated me, Adam looking at Mort with a look of envy and jealousy every time I was near him, and Adam's dad, along with my dad watching the basketball game on T.V.

When they finally left a few hours later, I was completely relieved. Anastasia was down for a nap and my parents said that I should go outside and get some fresh air and exercise. Mort and I decided that we were going to go on a walk and talk. Apparently, Mort wanted to talk to me about something, but what that was, I had absolutely no idea.

When we were finally into the woods behind my house, Mort turned to me and grabbed my left hand then looked down at our hands. "Cheyenne, today I realized something," he paused and looked into my eyes, "I cannot stand the thought of you being with anyone else. It completely rips my heart out to imagine something like that," I looked at him, very confused, "What I'm trying to say to you is, is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."



I looked down at my shoes, starting to feel knots in my stomach, "Mort…come on, what are you trying to—"

He stopped me, "Cheyenne, just at least hear me out. I love you and I love Anastasia with all of my heart. I know that you know that. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is…" he got down on one knee and pulled out a tiny black box, "will you marry me?"


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

With my mind racing and going in circles, all I could say was, "Huh?! I mean…wait, can we back up for just like a sec? No start over, what did you ask me?"

He chuckled slightly, "I believe that I asked you to marry me and you're avoiding the question," he said smiling and opening the little black box to reveal a silver ring with a pink princess-cut diamond in the center with white diamonds on the sides, three on each side. The ring was breath-taking, but I honestly had no idea what to say to him.

"Mort, I don't know what to…" I paused, looking at the pain that was now trickling across his face. I couldn't stand to look at this look on his face any longer, "Mort…yes! Yes. I'll marry you!" I exclaimed, as he put the ring on my finger. I couldn't stop smiling at it. There was only one problem with us getting married, "Mort, we have to wait at least three years to get married; I mean you have to remember that I'm only fifteen."

"I know, I know, Cheyenne, trust me, I took all of that into consideration before I even felt the urge to ask you. I think that until you graduate from high school, that we should just keep all of this under wraps for a while."

I smiled and kissed him gently, "Thank you," I said, holding out my left hand to observe the lovely two carat diamond on my finger, "I love you Mort," I said, then gently kissing him.

He kissed me back, "I love you too, Cheyenne."

When I got home that evening, I had forgotten about the ring on my finger. I didn't realize that it was there until my mom had questioned me on it. "Honey, what's that ring? I mean, where'd you get it?"

I looked down, rolling different things around in my head to make up, "Um…you didn't see when I got this from Trish the last time she was here? It's a friendship ring; she has one just like it. I've worn it everyday since she was here."

"Really, hm…I like it, it's gorgeous."

I smiled, 'Wow, dodged a bullet there,' I thought to myself, sighing.

Over the next couple of weeks, the late-night feedings, and of course the afternoon naps, started to become routine. Mort was doing extremely well with Anastasia. She was adapting to him very well and at an extremely quick rate.



Anastasia was almost nine weeks old now, which meant that I would soon be returning back to school. I trusted Mort enough so that when I finally _did _return back to school, I would leave Anastasia at home with her future daddy during the day.

When I finally was back to school for the rest of the year, Mort would arrive at the house around 6:30 and watch her while I was getting ready. Then, after I left for school, he would warm up a bottle and fed her, her breakfast. I honestly have no idea what they did after I left for school, but I trusted him.

One day after school, when I was done with all of my homework, I sat on the floor looking at my gorgeous engagement ring while Mort and Anastasia were asleep on the couch across the room from me. She was sleeping peacefully on his chest; the scene that was in front of me was absolutely adorable. I wanted badly to take a picture, but I didn't want to wake either one of them up.

When they both woke up about an hour later, Mort was feeding her while we started to plan out details of our wedding. I wanted to get married on a beach somewhere, while I was wearing a cream colored billowing dress. I also had wanted a small wedding with just our family and loved ones attending the wedding. And we both had decided on Anastasia being our flower girl, with the assumption that she would be old enough at that time. Mort had agreed with me on everything, except he had wanted a big, traditional church wedding and me in a white dress.

"Mort, I don't think that I should wear a _white _dress. A white dress is supposed to symbolize an image of virginity. Come on, if I have a daughter, then I'm definitely not 'pure' by any stretch of the imagination. That's why I said I should wear a cream or a pink-ish colored dress."

"Honey," he said, leaning in and kissing me gently, "you're pure as ever to me," he said, gently caressing my cheek.

"Aw…honey," I said, putting my hands over my heart. I leaned in to kiss him, but stopped a few centimeters away from his face, "But we're still getting married on a beach, not in a church," I said smiling, then giving him a quick peck.

He sat there for a second looking at me, "Okay, fine. But I get to pick which beach," he said leaning back in my father's recliner, giving me a challenging look. His eyes almost mentally telling me, "Your turn."

"Alright," I said standing up and folding my arms over my chest with my left hip popped, "if you get to pick the beach, I get to pick my dress, and the floral arrangement, _and _the meal afterwards."

He stood up with Anastasia still sleeping in his arms, "Alright, deal," he said holding out his hand to shake on it. After we shook our hands and made our deal, he pulled me into his tight 

embrace, being sure not to harm or wake up Anastasia. "Cheyenne, I love you so much. I never want to leave you," he kissed the top of my head, "we just have one thing left to decide…what do we want the date of our wedding to be?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Well, I think sometime in June. I mean a beach wedding in the middle of June, it's almost lyrical don't you think?" I asked smiling, "So in about three years on June…20th? How's that?"

He looked away from me momentarily to contemplate the suggested date. "I guess that could work; I'm actually _sure _that it could work. I couldn't have picked a better date if I tried. So uh…where do you think we should go on our honeymoon?" he asked grinning slyly.

"I think that we can figure that out, when we…I mean _you_ decide where we are getting married," I said, nervously cracking my knuckles, a terrible habit that I needed to stop.

"That's a good idea," he sighed, "I can't wait until I finally have you as my wife," he said, tilting my face up to look him, "I really hope that time travels quickly," he said as he hugged me with his cheek upon the top of my head, "I can't wait for our life together."


	20. Chapter 18

Well everyone, I'm so sorry to have to say this...but this is the final chapter of this story. But no need to worry, give me about a week or two and I'll have the sequal lined up for our favorite characters. I will have absolutely no problem getting about a chapter a week put up...hopefully. Lol well anyway stay tuned for the sequal to The Wonderful Town of Tashmore Lake, the title will be...drumroll please! My Life...As Mrs. Rainey. Peace out everyone, I love you all!!

* * *

Chapter 18

Many things have happened over the past three years. Mort and I tried, at the best of our abilities, to keep our engagement a secret. We did an okay job until…about a year and a half before we were to be married.

My parents found out one day when my mother was snooping around in my room. She said that I had been "acting strange" and that she had a perfectly good reason to be investigating my room like she was some freaking modern-day Nancy Drew. She was "putting clothes away" when she came upon my ring that I left on my dresser while I took a shower.

About twenty minutes after I got into the shower, I was finished and drying myself off when I heard a thumping noise in my room. It was almost like the sound of something falling. I wrapped the towel around me and walked out into the hallway, heading for my room.

Meanwhile, my mother was sitting on my bed looking intently on the band of my ring. Inscribed into the band of engagement ring were the words, "For My Beautiful Angel." This was something that I hadn't even noticed until I had taken it off for the first time. Knowing that Trish would never say something like that, let alone spend an extra hundred dollars to get it inscribed, when I came into the room, she cornered me and was demanding to know who the ring was _really _from.

"Cheyenne, I _need _to know who gave you this ring!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air in exasperation.

"Oh, do you really Mother? Do you really _need _to know? Or is it that you _want_ to know? Because typically with you Mom, it's never I _want_ to know; it's always I _need_ to know! And quite frankly, I don't really know if I want to tell you quite yet. Since you want to be so hypocritical and say that you absolutely _need _to know, when you don't, it's making me think twice about telling you at all," I was spitting out, the words feeling like acid as they rolled off of my tongue.

"We--…I…" she angrily sputtered out, her face starting to gradually turn red.

"Great answer Mom, I really mean that," I said, snatching my engagement ring out of her hand and slipping it onto my ring finger on my left hand. "Look Mom! Get a _really _good look! Alright?!" I yelled at her, waving my hand around in front of her face, and accidentally waking Anastasia up in the process. "Are you happy now?! Are you satisfied?! I was going to tell you after I turned eighteen but Mort and I are engaged okay?!"



She sat there blankly staring at me with her mouth open and her eyes wide. She sat there looking like a fish out of water for a couple of minutes. When I was finally sick of her looking at me like that, I went over to Ana's crib and picked her up. She was still crying quite a bit and I put her on my shoulder, soothingly patting her butt and bouncing her gently.

"Honey…why are you doing this to yourself? Why are you engaged? You're still only a kid. God, if you father finds out…" she said, she voice trailing off.

"Mom," I said exasperated, sitting down next to her on my bed, Anastasia now quietly sleeping on my shoulder, "we love each other. Don't you remember that feeling? I mean, like when you first met Daddy; didn't it just hit you like a freight train? And when I hang out with Mort, I just, I feel like I never want to leave his side. Besides, it's not like we're just going to run off and get married. We are waiting to get married until I'm eighteen for my sake and his. Come on Mom, you know that whether you approve or not, Mort and I are going to get married," I finally spit out as I finished my tirade.

"Alright," she said looking away from me, blankly off into space, "you know what? I don't really care anymore. Just do what you want. Go run off to Vegas and marry that scumbag author alright? Go ruin your life, not to mention your daughter's."

That comment sent me over the edge, "Alright Mom, you know what?! You are such a hypocrite! I thought that you _liked_ Mort. You never had a problem with him until you found out that we were engaged! So you know what?! If you don't like it, tell me now! I'll never bother you again after the wedding and I move out! So remember, that if you don't want me to be in your life, then I don't want you in Ana's life! So just suck it up and accept it!"

"Wh--" she paused and sighed, then finally made eye contact with me again, "Okay, alright, do what you want. I trust your decisions honey," she smiled at me.

"Uh…thank you?" I asked and weakly smiled back at her.

The next year and a half led up to where I am at this very moment; walking down a satin cloth that is covered in pink rose petals that Ana had spread. It's hard to believe that she's two and a half. She's dressed in an adorable white dress with pink lace and ruffles along the bottom.

My dad and I are walking silently side-by-side along the shore of a private beach in Maui that Mort had picked for our wedding. Me, I mean it's really _me _in this beautiful setting, and this time…this wasn't just a dream. This was really happening to me! The girl that when we had first met, he looked at me like I was some type of alien, and I was I'd never felt so much adrenaline run through my veins before. For the first time in my life though…I felt beautiful.

My nails were neatly manicured, as well as my toes, my dark blonde hair was twisted up in a French twist, I was walking barefoot along the sand, and I had on a gorgeous strapless pink-cream colored dress.

Mort is now standing right in front of me, smiling and gently holding my small hand in his. He looked amazing. Since the sun was just beginning to set, there was an orange glow cast over everything. The orange glow even shined through his blonde hair making it an interesting yellow-orange color. His hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and he was wearing the standard black tuxedo, which made him look like a penguin.

After the ceremony, we had our wedding reception in a big tent that was about a mile down the beach from where we were married and I was pronounced Mrs. Mort Rainey. After the meal, we cut the cake and did the traditional smashing of the cake in each other's faces.

I was _finally_ able to hold my newly-wed husband when we danced to the song "So Close." I know it was dorky, but it was an amazing song that I had heard while Anastasia was watching Enchanted after her bath. Our lips had just barely touched when there was a surprising bright flash from my right side, in the direction of the entrance to the tent. The flash had instantly startled me, causing me to cry out ever so slightly.

We both jumped and whipped our heads into the direction of the entrance to the tent. We saw the slightest bit of a camera and a man dressed in khaki pants and a t-shirt. It was a scumbag paparazzi that was assigned to get pictures of our wedding. Well…pictures of Mort getting married. It didn't really matter _who_ he was marrying and what they looked like. I realized that this was now going to be a part of my life. Especially because of Mort's suspicions.

We chased him out and all got a good laugh out of it. My parents would be taking Anastasia while Mort and I, as husband and wife, went on our honeymoon. We would return a week later to settle into Mort's cabin, the one down the path from my parents' house. Then, we would finally be able to live our lives together…as a family.


End file.
